About this project

Islands of Chaos - The Strategic Adventure Mobile App

$8,936

pledged of $8,000 goal

127

backers

Islands of Chaos

Islands of Chaos is an strategic island adventure multi-player game of survival and strategy. Set amidst a sea of beautiful wildlife and shipwreck grave yards players will engage in a competitive struggle to conquer minigames and each other.

The game takes place on your mobile device and will be supported by the Apple App store for iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touch as well as Android tablets and phones . The game will be FREE to download - if you think you have what it takes to prevail in an original and unpredictable chess match with people all over the the world then you can download the finished app and get started!

Structure - How does it work?

Islands of Chaos has a simple but unique structure. After downloading the mobile app players must create a player profile; simply enter your in game name, email (for security purposes), and upload a photo. This is your Personal Player Profile. It holds all your stats after playing a few games!

Then you can either start a new game or join an already in progress game. When you start a new game you will choose a game name (example: Erik's Game) pick which island setting the game will take place at, how many players are allowed to join, and the game duration. 16 - 24 players can join a game.

After your game is set up it loads that information into the Games Que. Players looking to join a game will be able to join it based on the criteria you have entered,.. some people want a short game as opposed to a huge mega 40 days 40 nights game! When they find a game they like they will join it.

Who you are, in an active game, needs to be anonymous to provide a fair and level playing field for everyone. Once you have selected a game to join you must create a Character for that game. Using the Character Creator you can design a character that will fit your gameplay style.

The Character Creator Mock-up

Looking to flirt your way to the top? Make a cute girl avatar. Looking to be a competitive beast? Create the perfect Brad or Chad to score a touchdown! Whatever you decide, everyone will have a made up character to play as and hide their true identity. You could be playing alongside your grandpa and never suspect a thing!

Now, you are ready to play your first game...

Social - Everyone Plays Differently

Rather then facing computer opponents, each game is driven by the chemistry between the individual players assembled, making each game completely unpredictable (and difficult) to win!

Every game begins with players divided into opposing teams (2 - 5 teams depending on the individual game rules). The Islands of Chaos host, Jabony Bones Cryptoff (Bones for short) will guide players through the game.

Bones, our guide through the Islands

Players will compete against one another in a series of mini-game challenges. Some are Award Minigames, where you win benefits and supplies for your team. Others are Elimination Minigames where the losing team will have to vote one of their own out of the game.

The Game Cycle generally has three major events:

Award Minigame : Both teams compete in a minigame for an award. Winners get the Award, while losers get shame and ridicule!

Elimination Minigame : Both teams compete in a minigame for elimination. Losers will have to vote off one of their members at the Elimination Ceremony.

Elimination Ceremony : The losers attend an Elimination Ceremony where they will cast votes to determine who will leave the game. Depending on how many teams and players are playing multiple teams will attend the ceremony.

The difficulty of this game becomes apparent after the first Elimination Minigame ends; someone needs to go, but how do I guarantee it isn't me? You can choose to form new friendships, gather allies, or utilize lies and deceit on your way to the end. This all becomes part of the social game. Only one player can win in the end, but you need allies in order to get there. Trust becomes an invaluable resource!

When there are two players remaining active in the game the players voted out after the halfway point will determine the winner at a final Island Champion Ceremony. The remaining players left (2-4) will explain the way in which they played the game and why they deserve to win. The remaining half of voted out players will ask questions and have an open conversation with the finalists to determine a winner by vote.

After 1/3 of the players have left the game the Game Director Algorithm will decide when to combine the teams and turn everything on its head. When the teams combine it will change from a team vs. team game into and every man for himself scenario with only two to four players making it to the very end. Rather then Awards and Elimination Minigames won by a whole team, there will only be 1 winner (usually) for each minigame.

So, what are these awesome challenges you speak of?

Skill - Killer Minigames

All the minigames (Award or Elimination) are randomly selected from a pool of minigames that will come with the mobile app. They can be played on their own in a Minigame Practice Arena option as well,.. so even if don't want to join a full fledged game you can still practice and play them!

All challenges are based on time or score - so on a designated day in which an Award Minigame or Elimination Minigame occurs any player can log on at any time and play the challenge. All the scores will be tallied by the end of the day and team scores will all be added together to determine the winning team.

Strategy - Making the Tough Decisions

Everyone who picks up this game will bring their own unique personality, background, and style to way in which they choose to play this game. That really is the beauty IOC; there are limitless possibilities and differences that make each game unique.

Character Strength and Weaknesses

One aspect of this game that greatly effects the gameplay is our Item System. Each player has a pack that can store a variety of in-game Items. Items can be played at specific pivotal points in the game to increase your chances of winning.

Islands of Chaos Items

The 1st six items listed above are Food. When searching around your team camp you may come across coconuts, pineapples, starfruit, or other various plant life. If you eat a fruit prior to playing a minigame challenge it will multiply your score and give you a better chance at beating your competitors (example: Green coconuts add 1/8 of your total score onto your points, while yellow coconuts add 1/4 of you points onto your score).

In the second row you can see the Chicken. A chicken (when caught) will continually produce eggs which offer your team a constant food advantage in the minigames, or you can cook the chicken later for an even better meal advantage!

Sand Dollars are the currency for the Islands. They purchase new island maps, new characters, and extra bonus features. You can also find them when searching around your team camp.

Talismens are a super important item, as they can be used by individual player at Elimination Ceremonies to grant them protection from being sacrificed (voted off their team). Each island has its own special Talismen with its own specific rules and is usually hidden somewhere around the island by the Game Director Algorithm.

In the last Item row you can see the Giant Clam and various colors of Coral. The Giant clam is both a food item and possibly a currency item in that it provides food (clam muscle) and a small percentage of the time it provides a Pearl (worth 100 Sand Dollars!) The various Coral colors represent rarity and price. White Coral is only worth about 1 sand dollar while red coral is worth 50.

Items can be traded between players, so this adds a layer of complexity to the social game. Prior to the halfway point players must coordinate their item usage to win minigames for their team, while deciding when to keep certain items for personal use in the later individual game.

Also some items can be used to ruin other players; take the Rotten Coconut. If you find a Rotten Coconut only you know it's rotten. If you trade it to another player and they use it it will make them sick subtracting minigame points for the next two minigame challenges.

Statistics - Best of the Best

One of the best parts about IOC is the Leader Boards. Following each game you participate in your individual profile will log your statistics and build up a comprehensive Stat Pack of your points, achievements, and aquaintences. Some factors that will be logged include:

Place - What place you finished in the games you've played

Votes Against - How many times someone has voted against you

Minigames Won - Team or Individual minigames you have been on the winning side of

Votes to Win - How many votes you have had in your favor at the Island Champion's Ceremony

All these stats will be compiled to give an overall profile stat as well, which can be viewed on the leader boards. You can see your average, highest, and lowest in each category as well as review past games you've played. You can also review how highly you are ranked as a player regionally, nationally, or internationally! If you only play around in the Minigame Practice Arena you can still set a new record for the minigames that are available. Each minigame will have its own high score recorded every time its played.

One excellent feature is the Social Stats which will show up when you look at other player's profiles. These stats will show if you have interacted with another player before in a game and if they voted against you or with you.

If funding goes well enough each year will see a Top 16 Champion's Game, in which the top 16 players in the country will be invited to compete in a final end of year game to see who is the Player of the Year.

I could go on, but the stats alone make this game incredibly fascinating and fun!

Risks and challenges

There are not as many risks as one might think in order to make this game happen if we reach our funding goal. Both Erik and Billy will be working to build this game to the best of our ability because not only do we want to fulfill our dream of creating this game but we both really want to play it!

The majority of the prizes should be filled within the timeframe of next August - September; right on time for the game's release in late September or early October 2014. If we reach our goal this will give us all the materials needed to complete the game within the timeframe we have given ourselves.

Funding is broken down as follows:
$4000 for programmer fees to build IOC (including server usage and Developer Licenses).
Approximately $500 - $900 for theme music and in-game music
$400 for Adobe Illustrator to build Sprite animations and in-game elements and art
Approximately $3000 for all in-game IOC in-game menus, art, and design

People are randomly put together depending on what kind of game they sign up for - each game has multiple options such as how many players, time frame, how many teams to start, etc. and you can choose what game to join. Each island features it's own reason why the players are there - either by shipwreck, airplane crash, lost at sea, or by mystic ABC's "Lost" kind of reasoning.

Following joining a game you make a character to act as your avatar so no one knows who they are playing against until after they either win or kicked off the island.

Players kicked off prior to the halfway point are thrown in a volcano, while the remaining players are thrown in a volcano but their spirits come back to life at the final Island Champion Ceremony to decide a winner.

Game length depends on what kind of gametype you join. There are multiple options to set up your own game (as a host) or multiple games looking for players that are open to join (game que). Once a game has enough players though it will start.

There will be time periods in which you can play a minigame and time when you can cast a vote. If you are going to be super busy though you can opt to play them a day or two in advance,.. this is where it gets tricky. The social aspect of the game requires you talk and strategize with the other players so there is a necessity for paying attention to the game for the duration of the game if you want to do well or have an enjoyable experience with it.

Any and all ideas are still open though, Billy and I are still looking at our options for this so it works around people real life schedules too.

There will be an in-game private messaging system between people on your team only, and in between everyone left in the game past the halfway point. You can also invite multiple players into a discussion.

We had no initial plans for the "HII" or a game element similar to that making an appearance, but if the players want it we can certainly add it.

As far as twists go each island you play on has different twists / gameplay elements that differentiate them from the others. So prior to starting a game you kind of know what twists may or may not make an appearance. A few islands are left to have random twists as well, so you don't know what you are exactly in for. A lot of those options are going to be available for the host of the game to decide prior to the game start.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

You will get an exclusive Islands of Chaos 2nd Tier character pack. It will include 30 custom character choices not available in the free version and an extra island to play on. You also will get the previous prizes listed above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

You will help us create an Island of Chaos Character! By pledging $500 you will work with Erik Reichenbach and our creative team to create your own island character to be featured in the game! It can be you if you like! You also get all of the previous prizes listed above.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $700 or more
About $700

You will help us create an Island Map! By pledging $1000 you will work with Erik Reichenbach and our creative team to create a unique Island of Chaos! You also get all of the previous prizes listed above, including the "make a character" deal. Pretty sweet!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

That's a GREAT contribution! You will get to create an island, an island character, and your own minigame specific to that island! You will work with the creative team to idealize and create a custom Island of Chaos for the final game! You will also receive the previous prizes listed above!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,200 or more
About $1,200

Welcome to the design team! For contributing $1200 you will become part of the IOC Team as a beta tester for our minigames and strategy sessions. You will have direct input on what works and what doesn't in the game and help us build a better mobile app. All the previously mentioned prizes also apply.